Lois Gresh

Fiction and Excerpts [1]

Non-Fiction, Young Adult || The Hunger Games Companion includes fascinating background facts about the action in all three books, a revealing biography of the author, and amazing insights into the series' main themes and featuresfrom the nature of evil, to weaponry and rebellions, to surviving the end of the world.

In addition to being an author, I’ve been a part of science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom for 25 years. SFFH readers, writers, and fans are like family in many ways.

After meeting an interesting variety of Hunger Games fans on the internet, I began wondering what drives them. What is it about the Hunger Games that they love so much? What do they think about the upcoming movie? I had a lot of questions, and so I decided to ask Kira and Matt. During the past few months, I’ve been delighted to meet many Hunger Games fans, including the amazing Kira and Matt, who run a popular fansite devoted to the Hunger Games trilogy.

In his review of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Stephen King calls the book “a violent, jarring speed-rap of a novel” and points out that “The winner gets a life of ease; the losers get death. The only ‘unspoken rule’ is that you can’t eat the dead contestants.”

Once kids are in the Hunger Games arena, they fight to the death, and anything goes. The same is true in the second book of the Hunger Games series, Catching Fire.

By the time we get to the third book, Mockingjay, as Nicole Sperling of Entertainment Weekly says, “Collins has kicked the brutal violence up a notch.”

When I first read the books, I was stunned that they were young adult novels. Only a year or two earlier, romantic vampire novels such as Twilight dominated the genre. And before Twilight, we had Gossip Girls, which combined Mean Girls with Sex in the City and tossed in plenty of high fashion, boozing, and partying.

For fans of The Hunger Games, we’ve got a special treat for you: two chapters from The Hunger Games Companion, out November 8 from St. Martin’s Press.

Go deeper into the post-apocalyptic world created by Suzanne Collins than you ever thought possible—an alternative future where boys and girls are chosen from twelve districts to compete in “The Hunger Games,” a televised fight-to-the-death. When sixteen-year-old Katniss learns that her little sister has been chosen, Kat steps up to fight in her place—and the games begin. This unauthorized guide takes the reader behind the stage.

The Hunger Games Companion includes fascinating background facts about the action in all three books, a revealing biography of the author, and amazing insights into the series’ main themes and features—from the nature of evil, to weaponry and rebellions, to surviving the end of the world. It’s everything fans have been hungering for since the very first book!